Apple Works

This may only be for old timers, but I've got a Apple Works problem.
Since 1991 I've been putting all my eggs in one basket using what used to be called Claris Works to set up a data base for all my contacts etc.
I've backed it up religously the whole time.
Just upgraded to Lion, and you guess it, Lion doesn't support it.
I managed to pull up the whole file, but can't find a way to open or import it into any thing else.
I've tried to use Open Office, but I'm not sure it will do it since it's a data base.
Anyone have any ideas on how to get this to function again?
Man, this is my whole basket of eggs from 1991, and got lots of stuff there I need.

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is good, Openoffice or Neooffice. Either of them are great and pretty simple although my favorites are iwork or office 2011. You can't really go wrong with any of the above though.

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Except that is not the real issue. He has something done in Apple Works and needs to get it into a Lion-friendly program.

Not only that, but it is the database file, not a word processing or spreadsheet file

Bento or Filemaker will be acceptable alternatives to the database program, but getting your file converted will be the issue
You will likely need to find a computer running the old program and save it in another format if possible

There is nothing other than AppleWorks that can open AppleWorks database documents. Database data can be copied & pasted into an AppleWorks spreadsheet, saved & opened in Numbers or saved as ASCII/plain text & opened in most any spreadsheet, database or word processing program. You're going to have to find a Mac running Snow Leopard or earlier to access the databases.

This might not be easy. When I converted from OS9 to Leopard nearly eight years ago now, I also converted from AppleWorks (files that started out in Claris Works) to Office for Mac. I had a few database files, they went to the great electronic wasteland. I transferred all the information in them to a spreadsheet, and saved that as an Excel file. I'd be surprised if there's anything around now that will serve as a stepping stone from AppleWorks to iWork or Bento, even if you use something that works on a pre-Lion OS. You waited too long.

OK, I was able to open as tab delimited text using Excel.
Been trying to get both Open Office and Bento to open in a usable form, but no luck so far.
At least all data isn't completely lost, it's just in a form that's get all back together.
Any other suggestions?

AppleWorks 6 has been around since March, 2000, more than eleven years ago! Even if they were AppleWorks/ClarisWorks 5 files, AppleWorks 6 would be able to open them.

FYI - AppleWorks is one word, no space in it

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This is all correct, but is completely irrelevant to the OP's problem. AppleWorks 6.2.9, the most recent version, was released in 2004 and is PPC-only. It requires Rosetta to run on Intel-based Macs. However, Rosetta is not part of Lion. Therefore, no AppleWorks on Lion.

I am aware of one utility that could convert AppleWorks documents, including AppleWorks documents that included database elements. That was DataViz's MacLinkPlus Deluxe. Unfortunately, DataViz has abandoned the utility and no longer supports it. Even though MacLinkPlus Deluxe 16.001 was released in 2007, well after the Intel transition, it was PPC-only. It will not run under Lion.

iWork applications will open .cwk files of varying data sets with the exception of drawings. So you will need Pages, Numbers, or Keynote depending on what kind of .cwk it is. They are purchasable via the Mac App Store individually.

This may only be for old timers, but I've got a Apple Works problem.
Since 1991 I've been putting all my eggs in one basket using what used to be called Claris Works to set up a data base for all my contacts etc.
I've backed it up religously the whole time.
Just upgraded to Lion, and you guess it, Lion doesn't support it.
I managed to pull up the whole file, but can't find a way to open or import it into any thing else.
I've tried to use Open Office, but I'm not sure it will do it since it's a data base.
Anyone have any ideas on how to get this to function again?
Man, this is my whole basket of eggs from 1991, and got lots of stuff there I need.

Click to expand...

Go to E-MACULATION and download the latest Sheepshaver bundle and help info. In less than an hour you will be able to use Appleworks within Sheepshaver, or export to OSX in Excel form and then use Numbers.

This is all correct, but is completely irrelevant to the OP's problem. AppleWorks 6.2.9, the most recent version, was released in 2004 and is PPC-only. It requires Rosetta to run on Intel-based Macs. However, Rosetta is not part of Lion. Therefore, no AppleWorks on Lion.

Click to expand...

I said in my first reply that the OP would have to find a Mac running Snow Leopard or earlier to open the files in AppleWorks & convert them to something that can be opened by an app in Lion.

@ JediMeister

The iWork applications - Keynote, Pages & Numbers - can only open AppleWorks 6 presentation, word processing & spreadsheet documents, respectively. They will not open any other type of AppleWorks 6 files. The third-party application EazyDraw, can open AppleWorks draw documents. There is nothing other than AppleWorks that can open paint or database documents.

I know I can't do it for you, but if you find someone who has AppleWorks, they might be able to open the file and save it in another format for you. Alternatively, you could do it yourself on an older computer if you had one.

I have a 2005 eMac that is running 10.5.8 and I have AppleWorks. I can open that for you and save it in another format, such as ASCII Text format. For the database in AW 6.2.9, the only formats that you can save in are as follows: ASCll Text, AppleWorks, AppleWorks 5.0, ClarisWorks 4.0, ClarisWorks for kids. I hope this helps. I love AppleWorks and use it a lot. I wish that the new iWork suite had some of the AW features such as the assistants feature.

Here's a work around I've used. I use Numbers. Numbers can't open an AppleWorks database, but it can open an AppleWorks spreadsheet. So you just have to convert your AW database into a AW spreadsheet as follows:

In your AppleWorks database select all records, then copy them.
Open a new AppleWorks spreadsheet then paste in the previously copied records. Save the AppleWorks spreadsheet.

Use Numbers to open the AppleWorks spreadsheet.
You might have some cleaning up to do, but at least you'll have all your data.

I have a 2005 eMac that is running 10.5.8 and I have AppleWorks. I can open that for you and save it in another format, such as ASCII Text format. For the database in AW 6.2.9, the only formats that you can save in are as follows: ASCll Text, AppleWorks, AppleWorks 5.0, ClarisWorks 4.0, ClarisWorks for kids. I hope this helps. I love AppleWorks and use it a lot. I wish that the new iWork suite had some of the AW features such as the assistants feature.

Here's a work around I've used. I use Numbers. Numbers can't open an AppleWorks database, but it can open an AppleWorks spreadsheet. So you just have to convert your AW database into a AW spreadsheet as follows:

In your AppleWorks database select all records, then copy them.
Open a new AppleWorks spreadsheet then paste in the previously copied records. Save the AppleWorks spreadsheet.

Use Numbers to open the AppleWorks spreadsheet.
You might have some cleaning up to do, but at least you'll have all your data.

I have a 2005 eMac that is running 10.5.8 and I have AppleWorks. I can open that for you and save it in another format, such as ASCII Text format. For the database in AW 6.2.9, the only formats that you can save in are as follows: ASCll Text, AppleWorks, AppleWorks 5.0, ClarisWorks 4.0, ClarisWorks for kids. I hope this helps. I love AppleWorks and use it a lot. I wish that the new iWork suite had some of the AW features such as the assistants feature.

Perhaps you could partition your hard drive and install Leopard or Snow Leopard. This would allow you to boot onto a partition that would support both AW and Numbers. After you recover your data you could reboot under Lion.

We have a winner.
Did the partition thing, and was able to recover all my data from my time machine back up.
Opened the database with Excel did a save as ASCll text, and mailed it to myself.
Nothing like the thrill of victory.

Now to get into another data base. Hopefully something that looks like the AW version.

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